According to modern pandemic lore and the many denizens of “Hustle & Grind” Twitter, Shakespeare wrote King Lear while in quarantine during the bubonic plague. And following in the footsteps of the great Bard of Avon, Matthew McConaughey wrote his new memoir, Greenlights, by exiling himself to the desert.
“I went away to the desert by myself for 52 days, no electricity,” he explained during an event to mark Lincoln's new partnership with the Calm app. “I've been keeping a diary for 36 years. A couple of years ago, my wife gave me a kick in the backside to say, ‘You've been talking about sitting down with those for 36 years and seeing what it is for a while. Now's the time. Get out of here.’”
In an IGTV video, the actor added, “Ever since I learned to write, I've been keeping a journal, writing down anything that turned me on and turned me off, made me laugh, made me cry, made me question, or kept me up at night. Two years ago, I worked up the courage to take all of those journals off into solitary confinement just to see what the hell I had and I returned, with a book. Yes, Greenlights. This is my sights and seens, nices and means, success and failures, stories, people, places, poems, prayers, prescribes, and a whole lot of bumper stickers.”
If the memoirist thing doesn't work out for McConaughey, it seems like the actor could have a very promising future moonlighting as a beat poet.
— Did Billionaire Tobacco Heiress Doris Duke Get Away With Murder?
— The Porn Industry’s Biggest Scandal—And Mystery
— After a Year in Hiding, Ghislaine Maxwell Finally Faces Justice
— Inside the Other Harry and Meghan Book by Longtime Royal Irritant Lady Colin Campbell
— From Tyga to Charli D’Amelio, TikTok Stars Are Having a Blast (at Home)
— The 21 Best Books for Tolerating 2020 (So Far)
— From the Archive: The Mystery of Doris Duke’s Final Years
Looking for more? Sign up for our daily newsletter and never miss a story.
